(A/N: Now Mario and Peach's conversation begins! I know you want to find out how it's gonna go, so I'll do you guys a favor get this chapter started right away!)
"So, Mario, what is it you want to talk about with me? What's on your mind?" Peach asked as she looked into the plumber's sad blue eyes. Sad? Daisy and Rosalina were right; she wasn't the only one who had been hurting emotionally.
"(sigh) I think you already know the answer to that question, Peach." Mario replied, looking very uncomfortable as he looked at the princess before him.
It didn't take long for Peach to figure out what Mario was talking about, and it didn't please her. But she knew that it had to be what was upsetting him, and the only way they were going to resolve this problem was for her to let him speak about it.
"This is about what happened at Honeylune Ridge, isn't it, Mario?" Peach asked, not too amused. She'd had a bad feeling that that topic was going to come up in their conversation sooner or later, but not this soon.
"Sì." said Mario, looking even sadder. He knew that this wasn't going to be easy, and knowing that Peach wasn't happy about it just made the whole thing even more difficult.
"What about it?" asked the Princess, noticing that the thought made Mario seem rather upset, but she figured she knew the reason why. Still, Daisy and Rosalina said to let him explain everything, and that's what she intended to do.
There was a rather awkward silence as a clearly nervous Mario tried to figure out how to put his thoughts and feelings into words. He had been trying to do just that since they started making their way home after thwarting Bowser's plans to forcefully marry Peach, but he hadn't been able to give voice to them until last night, when he finally told Luigi. He decided to start off with something easy to say.
"Cappy gave me my wedding tuxedo as he and I were leaving Bowser's Kingdom, ready to make our way to Honeylune Ridge to save you and Tiara. I was really impressed when I saw myself in it; I honestly never thought I'd live to see the day I would be dressed in such finery." Mario said.
"I'm not going to lie; you looked incredibly handsome in that tuxedo, Mario." Peach said.
"Pensavi davvero che fossi bello? You really thought I was handsome, Peach?" Mario asked, feeling a little happier but still unable to smile.
"Mm-hmm..." Peach nodded, which had Mario blushing a little.
"Immagino che abbia senso. I guess that makes sense. You were glowing when I showed up to crash the wedding. I guess it's-a because you liked the way I looked." Mario remembered.
"That's partially why I was glowing, Mario." Peach corrected him.
Mario blushed even harder, but then it quickly faded as he asked, "What was the other reason why you were glowing, Peach?"
Peach looked a little upset as she remembered, which worried Mario, but she started, "Well... Mario... on our way to Bowser's own kingdom... Bowser told me and Tiara how he... shot down your ship... with his new friend..."
"Te ne ha parlato? He told you about that?!" Mario asked, clearly peeved. He never, in his wildest imagination, thought that Bowser would sink low enough to try using a dragon to kill him, then tell Peach about it.
"Yes, but... but that's not all... he told us... He said that... it didn't matter... whether or not you survived... because you wouldn't... be catching up to us... for his new friend was a... a dragon... and you were... as good as dragon chow." Peach added, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness.
"Why, that miserable son of a..." Mario thought, wishing he'd known about this sooner so he could have pounded Bowser into moondust! That would have taught him to hurt Peach's feelings like he did!
"Mario, if you thought... I was hurting... the other times I saw Bowser... send you away... the pain was NOTHING... compared to what I felt... when he said that..." Peach said.
"You must have felt as bad as I've been feeling for the past few weeks..." Mario thought.
"The thought of... never seeing you again... and losing you forever... it hurt me... more than the other times... he sent you away... in front of me... It cut like a knife... because I knew... that I never... got to say good-bye..." Peach continued, feeling very sad.
Mario immediately wanted to take the Princess into his arms and rub her back to comfort her when he saw how upset she looked. He had done this many times before without hesitation, but this time, he was resisting the urge to do so. It took every ounce of willpower he had to stay put and not move a muscle.
"I was so relieved when I saw you in Bowser's Kingdom, alive, but I was at my happiest when I saw you come into the Wedding Hall. You'd caught up to us in time. You came to save me from a fate I didn't deserve. That's mostly why I was glowing at the sight of you, Mario." Peach finished, smiling slightly as she remembered the moment when Mario and Cappy showed up to crash the wedding.
"If that's the way you felt, Peach, then please tell me: why did you do what you did to me?!" Mario thought. He didn't say the words, even though he felt like doing so. But he wouldn't say them. Not to Peach. And he knew he could not say them because he already knew the answer to that question, too, loathe as he was to admit it.
"I'm not planning on dying for a long time, Peach. And I wasn't going to give up and die when your life was in danger. I didn't plan to stop going after you until I knew you were safe and sound again." Mario said, resisting the urge to reach up and stroke her long, silky golden tresses, which was something he liked to do when he was reassuring Peach.
"You're so sweet, Mario." Peach replied with a sweet smile on her pretty face.
"Sei sicuro? Are you sure about that?" Mario asked.
"Sure I'm sure." Peach said.
"Even after what I did to you?" Mario added.
"What did you...? Oh, right..." Peach knew what he meant.
"I should tell you that there was a reason for it, even though it's-a not a very good one." Mario replied.
"I'm willing to listen to your reason, Mario, no matter how weak it is." Peach assured him. She fully intended to do exactly what she was told during the video chat she'd had with Daisy and Rosalina several nights ago.
"Ecco che arriva l'uragano... Here comes the hurricane..." Mario thought. It was time for the hard part.
Mario took a deep breath and, looking into Peach's eyes, said, "Well... I was hoping that you might have already figured it out by now. Yes, I was planning on asking you to marry me after all we had been through..."
Peach's heart skipped several beats when she heard him say that. She'd thought that's what he was going to do at Honeylune Ridge, while Cappy and Tiara were having their reunion. He was a big sweetheart...
"When I saw you in the Lochlady Dress... you looked lovelier than I could ever have imagined, and I figured that since we were both dressed in wedding attire... it really couldn't hurt to ask you the big question. But I was mostly asking you because... I think you know why..." Mario continued.
Peach smiled and blushed a little at Mario's explanation. Hearing him say how pretty she had looked never failed to make her heart flutter.
Mario then mumbled something under his breath. Peach didn't notice, much less hear what he said. His exact words were, "Perché ti amo e mi piacerebbe averti come mia moglie un giorno... Because I love you, and I'd love to have you as my wife someday..."
"I kind of guessed that you were planning to propose to me, Mario... and I do know why. It's because you loved me, and because of the love I felt for you then, I was more than ready to say yes." Peach replied, looking into Mario's eyes when she said it, indicating that she was telling him the truth.
Mario blushed a little, realizing that Peach felt love for him at that moment, like he always had, but it didn't stop him from frowning as he said, "I'm sure you remember what happened next as well as I do: Bowser pushed me down and tried offering you the Soirée Bouquet as some last-ditch marriage proposal."
"Yes, Mario, I do remember that, and I really don't like to think about it." Peach said, also frowning.
Mario let out an inaudible groan. Great, he reminded the woman he loved more than his own life of something she hated thinking about. What an idiot. He really needed to fix this, or else he could get ready to kiss Peach good-bye forever, which, in his opinion, is what Bowser should do.
"I freaked out when that happened, Peach. And the reason I was so scared wasn't just because that idiota Bowser was still trying to propose to you; it's-a because of what you did when he made that move." Mario explained as the blush disappeared from his face.
"What I did...? What did I do?" Peach asked, confused.
"You looked at him." Mario said.
"Mario, what's so bad about me looking at Bowser? I look at him all the time. I don't do it by choice, but I don't feel like I really have a choice when I talk to him because Toadsworth always told me to look at people whenever I speak to them, and when they speak to me." Peach said, still confused.
"I know that. But it was the way you looked at him when he held out the flowers to you, Peach. You gave him that look." Mario said.
"What look? I'm not exactly sure I follow..." Peach said, getting even more confused.
"Come questo. Like this." Mario said, and he demonstrated by making his eyes big and batting them at Peach in a flirtatious way.
Peach instantly recognized the look Mario was imitating. That was the look she gave Mario at times, just to see how he'd react. It always made him blush like a madman. And Mario said she'd looked at Bowser that way.
"I did that... to Bowser?! Oh my goodness; what in the world was I thinking?!" Peach gasped in horror.
"Now hold it right there! Don't get upset with yourself, Peach. Remember, I was the one who wasn't thinking." Mario said.
"But Mario, think about this: I looked at Bowser the way I'm supposed to look at you! How could I have done something so stupid?!" Peach asked, upset.
"You're not the one at fault here, Peach. È stata colpa mia! It was my fault!" Mario said, feeling stupid for making the woman he loved feel like she was to blame for this whole mess.
"So, you don't blame me for any of this?" Peach asked, faintly surprised and feeling a little better that Mario was not mad at her; that he wasn't blaming her. It was rather big of him to take all the blame for what had happened.
"No, Peach, I don't blame you. I could never blame you because we all know that I was the idiota who screwed everything up!" Mario said.
"Mario, you're not an idiota. Bowser is." Peach gently reminded him.
Mario liked hearing Peach say that Bowser was the 'idiota'. If she could forgive him, he'd be glad to teach her a lot more nasty names in the Italian language that suited Bowser... as long as she didn't call him by any of them in his presence.
"But Peach, I know for a fact... that I... I-I could have... handled the whole thing... d-differently. I-I didn't have to go and... f-force you to pick me. N-no. I c-could have reminded my... m-myself that you h-hate Bowser; that you... you would... t-turn down his l-last-ditch marriage p-proposal." Mario said, starting to feel really bad as the memory of that horrible moment resurfaced.
"You know what? That's just what I was planning to do to him, Mario. I was going to turn him down and leave him flat." Peach said.
Mario felt even worse when he heard that. His face turned pale, his eyes filled with tears, and he got a huge lump in his throat as his guilty conscience took Peach's words as the final nail in the coffin.
"Well... questo lo d-dimostra... th-that proves it..." Mario said in a barely audible voice. It was a wonder he'd been able to speak at all with a lump in his throat.
"Proves what, Mario? Can you please tell me?" Peach asked, having heard him. This made her a little worried about what Mario was going to say next, and she wasn't at all prepared for it.
"P-Princess Peach..." Mario started, trying his hardest to not let the tears fall.
"Mario... What's the matter?" Peach asked, worried about the man she knew and loved. It really scared her to see him this upset. She never saw Mario look like this before.
"You... y-you deserve... b-better than me!" Mario cried, covering his face with his gloved hands, unable to hold back his tears any longer.
Peach was more than shocked to see Mario burst into tears! She could understand that he was very upset about the whole thing, but she never expected that it made him feel guilty enough to start crying!
"Mario! That is not true!" Peach cried, immediately pulling Mario into her arms and giving him a warm, comforting hug. While a hug from Peach would usually help Mario feel much better even when he was feeling really low, it did little to comfort the red-clad plumber this time around.
"Y-yes, it is! I-if I had j-just... waited for y-you to... to turn down that s-stupid Koopa King... then n-none of this... would've happened... i-in the f-f-first place! We could be...m-married... or at the v-very least... e-engaged... by now i-if I had... b-been smart!" Mario wept.
Peach knew that while it had been her intention to say yes to his question, had he been able to even ask it, she really didn't want to get married at Honeylune Ridge. She was a princess, and she wanted to marry in her own kingdom, so her people could attend the ceremony. If anything, she and Mario would most likely be engaged, because weddings do take a lot of planning.
"Mi dispiace tanto! I-I'm so sorry, Peach! I-I can't a-apologize enough! Because it's... it's-a n-not enough!" Mario said, removing his hands from his face and weeping into Peach's slender shoulder. He never felt so awful in his whole life!
"Mario, you were afraid, and when we're afraid, we tend to act without thinking! I understand that, and you even said yourself that you weren't thinking." Peach said, rubbing Mario's back in a bid to calm him down. At least, she was trying to rub his back. It wasn't a very easy thing to do when his body convulsed with sobs.
"If I had j-just... thought ahead... I-I wouldn't be... h-heartbroken right now!" Mario explained, his tears soaking the sleeve of Peach's dress.
Peach got really upset when she heard Mario say that he was heartbroken. It was one of the last things she ever expected to hear from her favorite man.
"You're heartbroken?!" Peach asked in concern, holding Mario at arm's length.
The way Mario looked at Peach as he nodded his head told her that he wasn't lying. His tears were very real, and he was more upset than the Princess had ever seen him.
"Oh no! Being turned down really did break your heart, didn't it?!" Peach asked, feeling sad herself. She hated to see Mario like this. She should have noticed right off that he was heartbroken, having suffered from heartbreak herself during that adventure. But she couldn't have told Mario. She was afraid he might try and ask her to marry him if he had known, and she wasn't up for marriage right now. Not after everything Bowser had put her through.
"I-it did, Peach... When you... t-turned me down... I f-felt really awful... but... I-I knew... why you d-did it... l-loathe as I was... to admit it to m-myself... I-I knew it was my fault! I sh-should have known b-better... than to f-force you to ch-choose me... b-because Bowser had been... f-forcing you into m-marrying him... the entire time!" Mario explained.
Peach almost felt like saying, "That's right, Mario; you should have known better." But she didn't. Mario was feeling bad enough as it was, and she didn't need to make him feel even worse than he was about this whole situation. What she needed to do was let him talk. This was something he really needed to get off of his chest; something he'd wanted to fix as soon as possible, except it had to wait for a long time, and that hurt him.
"Plus... I-I knew from that m-moment on that... that I ruined e-everything between us for g-good!" Mario wailed, before sobbing into his hands again.
"How do you mean, Mario? Can you explain it to me?" Peach asked, wishing Bowser had died before Mario could propose. If he had, Mario wouldn't be crying like this.
"N-not only did I... ruin my ch-chances... of ever h-having you... the woman I l-love... as my w-wife... I-I ruined our relationship... a-as well as our... f-friendship! I'll n-never be able to... to repair the d-damage! Ever! That's why... why my heart is... b-broken! And... it's-a my own fault that my heart is b-broken! I have no one... but m-myself to blame for this... this whole m-mess!" Mario said, still feeling very sad.
"Mario, you didn't ruin anything between us. If you did, I wouldn't be talking to you right now." Peach said as she started rubbing his back again, hoping it would calm him down some.
"B-but Peach, you... you didn't even... t-talk to me... when we were... on our way b-back... to the M-Mushroom Kingdom! Ti ho s-salvato. I-I saved you... and y-you... you wouldn't talk to me!" Mario wailed.
"You didn't talk to me, either, Mario." Peach recalled.
"V-volevo... I w-wanted to, P-Peach... b-but I was afraid to." Mario admitted, feeling a little sheepish.
"Mario, you shouldn't have to be afraid to talk to me. You know that I'm always willing to lend an ear whenever you need to speak with me." Peach said.
"B-but after I behaved... the way I d-did... I f-feared that if I tried s-speaking to you... y-your reply would be a 'shut up' g-gesture... or a... a p-parla alla mano, 't-talk to the hand' gesture... Either one would m-mean... you didn't want to hear a-anything I had to say... and that you weren't s-speaking to me..." Mario said, pain in his voice.
Peach couldn't even begin to imagine what that would feel like, if she had been the one who was in the wrong and the person she loved didn't want to speak to her, or hear what she wanted to say. No wonder Mario's heart ached so badly.
"But all I w-wanted was to... to a-a-apologize to you... for b-behaving like... like I did... and to b-beg you for your f-forgiveness... e-even though I know... I d-don't deserve it..." Mario sobbed.
"Oh, Mario, I would never, ever tell you to shut up, and I certainly wouldn't tell you to talk to my hand, no matter how angry I was. I'd let you talk if you wished to speak to me. I'd be more than willing to listen to your piece." Peach told him, before adding, "Then again, I didn't exactly hear you reply to me when I bid you good night after you took me home."
"I-I replied with a... m-meek good-bye wave... from the Odyssey's d-doorway. I-it was all I could do... because I knew if I opened my m-mouth... I-I'd start b-bawling like I am now!" Mario replied, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. He hated crying when people were watching him. He especially hated that he broke down just like his brother would in a situation like this, and in front of Peach, no less!
"Oh, Mario..." Peach said, feeling bad for him as she pulled him into another hug.
"I-in fact... after you went into the c-castle... I... I closed the d-door to the Odyssey, and... Ho c-completamente lasciato andare! I-I completely let go!" Mario said, crying again.
"My poor baby..." Peach murmured, wishing she could just press 'rewind' and take them back to the moment the whole thing happened so that she could undo the damage and prevent Mario's suffering. It pained her to see him this upset.
Poor Mario, and poor Peach! Can they fix the damage that's been done and be a couple once again? Stay tuned if you wish to find out...